North Carolina the Preseason No. 1? Why the Coaches Got It Wrong

Yesterday the Coaches' Poll was released, and North Carolina was unanimously agreed upon as the nation's best collegiate men's basketball team.

Really, a unanimous No. 1?

The Tar Heels return their top six guys in the minutes per game category from 2007-08, bringing with them the bulk of the 89 points the team averaged last season.

But where's their size? North Carolina has just three members of the 2008-09 squad standing 6'9" or taller, two of which are 220-lb. freshmen.

What happens when UNC faces a team with frontcourt depth and Hansbrough gets in a little foul trouble?

Connecticut not only has the backcourt talent and depth to match UNC in A.J. Price, Jerome Dyson, Craig Austrie, and Kemba Walker, they also have a forest of bigs.

If UNC were to meet UConn in April, they could potentially face six different athletes that are 6'9" or bigger, including three seven-footers...and Connecticut is just one of the potential challengers for the new unanimous best team in the country.

The Big East will send at least four battle-tested teams to the dance this year with legitimate championship aspirations, as will Ben Howland with UCLA and Tom Izzo with Michigan State.

Even though they have a chance to run the table in an anemic ACC this year, with UNC's glaring lack of size, there's no way they should have been a unanimous top choice.